Bibliophile Amber's Book Reviews

Title: Death of a Ghostwriter Author: Gaynor Torrance Expected Publication: February 4,2025 Publisher: Jorge Books Genre: Mystery/Cozy Mystery Pages: 248 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Loving cozy mysteries, this one grabbed my interest quickly.  Albert Franklynn was leaving his home when he died in an accident, that later the police think that the accident was murder. Naturally, the shock is overwhelming for his wife, Sylvie. Grief pulls many emotions from a person; however, when two other women arrive, they say they are also Albert's wives. None of the wives knew about each other, they all thought that they were the only ones. How did Albert have three wives without any of them getting suspicious? Sylvie, one of the other wives, and her friend Liz decide that they are going to get to the bottom of everything: his death, how he managed three separate lives, and then if he was hiding anything else.  So, this was the first of a new series and when I read the description, this one...

Title: We Could Be Rats Author: Emily Austen Expected Publication: January 28,2025 Publisher: Atria Books Genre: Fiction/Contemporary/LGBT/MentalHealth/ Realistic Fiction/ Literary Fiction Pages: 256 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: I never knew that I would fall in love with a book so quickly. The way the book was written was very unique as in diary/suicide note entries, which were informative and helped the reader understand what all was going on at the time.  Sigrid, a lesbian who is barely out of her teens lives in a small conservative town and shes a high school dropout and she never feels like she fits in nor does she feel like she is understood.  This book was a knockout big time! Sigrid's sister Margit are two completely different people and they grew up in a house where several times there were loud arguments and anger issues. Margit's escape was trying to control everything around her and succeed in any way she could. Sigrid's escape is her imagination, she...

Title: A Killing Cold Author: Kate Alice Marshall Expected Publication: February 4,2025 Publisher: Macmillan Audio/Flatiron Books Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Suspense/Mystery Thriller Pages: 304 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Wow! After you read it, you will need to digest the epic proportions of how messed up everything is and the extent to which a family will go to protect its wealth and reputation. Some of the story is twisted, messed up, and far-fetched, but the story is still good!  Meeting a boyfriend's family can make anyone have anxiety now, amp that anxiety to level ten when the family is very wealthy and they also give everyone the first-degree of questioning to know who they are let into the family. Theo has an interesting history. She knows nothing about her life before her adoptive parents took her in and she did not have the best upbringing in life. But the longer she is there, she has flashbacks, begins remembering things, and has Deja Vu experiences at one cabin.  ...

Title: The Secret Year Author: Jennifer Hubbard Published: January 7,2025 Publisher: Penguin Group/Young Readers Group Genre: YA/Romance/Fiction/Contemporary:Realistic Fiction Pages: 192 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Review: Forbidden love. Something that appeals to so many, but this book contains forbidden love, and death and shows the rift between poorer families and the high regard the wealthy families have for, themselves and their social standing.  Colt is your kid who comes from nothing and has a passionate romance with Julia who has it all. When Julia dies in a car accident suddenly, Colt is beside himself. He has nothing to remember their romance other than her diary filled with entries to him. With each entry written to him, he can't forget the moments they spent time together. However, no one knew about their romance except for the two. How can you mourn and get over someone who was never actually yours to begin with?  This was an addicting interesting read that had me...

Title: The Empress Author: Kristin Cast Published: January 7,2025 Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Genre:Fantasy/Romance/Adult Fiction/Romantasy Pages: 400 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This was an interesting tale. Hannah was having a terrible time with work, where she was supposed to deliver a pitch to a new company. She struggled with her word choices so, Stephanie took over the pitch and made it work. So, not only did she fail, but someone else took over the pitch and while she was in a self-loathing era she went to her boyfriend's house in the hopes that he could help her forget. Only when she arrived was he entertaining another woman and breaking it off with her. She left in tears while a stranger gave her his monogrammed handkerchief.  Then she falls and when she does she wakes up somewhere she doesn't know where she is and when she tries to escape she ends up in a tavern with people who end up trying to kill her because she's a witch when she is rescued by K...

Title: A Sliver of Darkness Author: C.J. Tudor Published: November 8,2022 Publisher: Ballantine Books Genre: Horror/Short Stories/ Thriller/Mystery/Fiction Pages: 236 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: A book filled with creepy, eerie, and brilliantly compelling stories.  What set this book apart from different short story books that I've read was before each story you have an introduction from the author that kind of gives a back story with the inspiration for writing the story the struggles of writing the short story and also gives a personal glimpse into the mind of Tudor. That set this apart!  Each story gave me a new fear that I had never thought about before today!  I feel like there is a short story in this book for every horror fan. The stories are of different lengths and they are easy to read and go through. They are engaging.  I believe that my favorite story in the collection was Gloria.  Gloria has a different type of job, she either takes care of the a...

Title: The Coven Author: Harper L Woods Published: March 16,2023 Publisher: Tor Publishing/Bramble Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Paranormal/Witches/Vampires Pages: 302 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: OMG! This book reminds me of the Netflix series Sabrina! I went into this book blind and I am sooo glad I did and I am also happy that I bought both books!  I started the second book as soon as I finished the first one. I am not so great with patience and sitting on a cliffhanger!  Willow's mother passed away and because of this her mother's magic passed down to her and she is her father's ultimate weapon. She reluctantly returns to Hallow's Grove University to learn more about her magic and when she gets there she challenges and uncovers secrets.  Willow said, "If it is order that you value, then I will bring you nothing but chaos".  She is so fierce and I love it!  However, Gray, the headmaster, watches her and takes care of her. He also claims her so that none of the...

Title: The Ashes & The Star-Cursed King Author: Carissa Broadbent Published: April 14,2023 Publisher: Nasyra Publishing Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Paranormal/Vampires Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Honestly with this book I mourned with Oraya. From her father's death and turning into a prisoner in her kingdom to the pain and betrayal of Raihn and everything he did that killed me for her. Now, like many things in life, his actions were not all that they seemed but still Oraya went through a lot and went through it all alone.  While the first book kind of gave us the fairy tale love and all the feels then shattered our heart in two when he betrayed her. This book was kind of like a second chance romance to try to help them get to know each other and to give them a chance to understand one another too. I really loved that in this book Oraya was able to get the answers that she was looking for and she finally understands more about how she came to be and her history. However, she also learne...

Title: Dream Girl Drama Author: Tessa Bailey Expected Publication: February 4,2025 Publisher: Avon & Harper Voyager Genre: Romance/Sports Romance/ Contemporary/ Fiction/ Hockey Pages: 320 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Talk about awe-inspiring!  Chloe is a prodigy child who has been sheltered her whole life in a small town when she has a chance encounter with Sig. Sig was on his way to dinner with his father when his truck broke down and he walked to the country club that was close to making a phone call to try to get his truck working so he could attend the dinner. When he is met with roadblocks by the front desk Chloe saves him saying he is her friend and is allowed entry. They spend time together and while things start to get steamy they stop because they BOTH had previous engagements.  When Sig arrives at the house of his father's fiancee he makes a terrible discovery. Chloe will be his step-sister soon and that makes everything more complicated. At the dinner, Sig off...

Title: Emily Wilde’s Map of The Otherlands Author: Heather Fawcett Published: January 16 ,2024 Publisher: Del Rey Books/Random House Audio Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Historical Fiction Pages: 370 pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: I fell in love with this series in the first book and continuing to the second book the story continued beautifully! I adored it!  Wendell and Emily are back at Cambridge and Emily has tenure. At first, it seems to be everything she wanted in the first book but, now she has to fight to keep her spot. Because one scholar has found evidence of Wendell paying people off to create evidence for his writings and because she is associated with him, her work integrity is in jeopardy as well!  Wendell has a whole new problem of his own, his stepmother is trying to poison him and of course, she sends someone to poison him on his birthday. (Which I believe he is more upset about than the actual poisoning)  I do enjoy how Wendell and Emily's relationship is blossom...

Title: The Starlight Heir Author: Amalie Howard Expected Publication: January 7,2025 Publisher: Harper Audio/Avon Books Genre: Romance/SciFi/Fantasy/Mythology Pages: 368 Pages Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: This read had all the feels! There was the mystery, fantasy, suspense, and the feeling you were reading a tale from mythology! I adored it!  The slow-burn romance was KILLER in this story! Howard wrote that magnificently, then the mythical creatures threw in! The magic aspect was great, plus the world she made worked wonderfully and it wasn't overpowering with all the secrets! The secrets plus the hidden prophecy wee great, Howard has woven a web so delicately and well that even nonfantasy lovers would get caught in the web.  We start off the story with Suraya who is minding her own business when she receives an invite to the palace, to go meet the prince as he is looking for a wife. While she is not enthusiastic about the prospect she also knows she has to go. So she goes a...